Computer Networks and ISDN Systems 25 (Suppl. 3) (1994) S131-S133 S131

DANTE's Plans for High Speed Services

D r H o w a r d D a v i e s DANTE (Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe)

Abstract

DANTE has been formed as a non-profit company by a group of national research networks in order to provide them with international services. In addition to the 2raMbps multi-protocol service which it already operates, DANTE is making plans to introduce 34 Mbps and higher speed services as soon as this is feasible. Much of the planning activity is being carried out in the context of the Eureka EuroCAIRN Project. The scope of the activity and the issues that need to be addressed are described.

Keywords: High Speed Services, 34 Mbps

1. Background

DANTE is a non-profit company which was set up in 1993 by the national research networks from eleven European countries in order to pro- vide them and other similar organisations with international services. DANTE's principal activ- ity is the management of EuropaNET, a 2 Mbps network which has the European Multi-Protocol Backbone (EMPB) as its principal component but which also provides IP connectivity to the US and the global Internet. EMPB is provided by PTT Te l e c om (Nether lands) according to the terms of a " f ramework" contract with RARE; PTT Telecom has sub-contracted EMPB manage- ment and operation to its subsidiary, Unisource Business Networks.

The re are cu r ren t ly six nat ional networks which have 2 Mbps accesses to EuropaNET; there are further 19 organisations which have access points at lower speeds, mainly at 64 kbps, including in ternat ional organisat ions such as CERN (1 Mbps) and ESA.

EuropaNET has two transatlantic lines; a T1 (1.5 Mbps) line from Geneva and an E1 (2[2Mbps) line from Amsterdam are both connected to the

Correspondence to: Dr Howard Davies, DANTE, Lockton House, Clarendon Road, Cambridge CB2 2BH, UK. E-mail: H.E.Davies@dante.org.uk.

Washington GIX. Both lines are contracted di- rectly to DANTE by the relevant European and US PTOs (ANS, PTT Telecom, Sprint and Tel- ecom PTT Switzerland).

DANTE has a staff of eleven and is based in Cambridge, UK. It acts as a service provider to the national networks that are its customers but cannot be cons idered as a compet i to r of the PNOs. Its role is to act on behalf of its share- holders and other customers to obtain the best possible service on their behalf, taking advantage of the economies of scale which can be applied. It is also important to note that DANTE's role is to provide operational services and not to engage in development. The introduction of advanced services which are not yet fully available com- mercially nevertheless falls within its remit.

The possibil i t ies for extending EuropaNET services to 4 or 8 Mbps access capacity are being investigated but this does not count as "high speed" in the context of this paper which is primarily concerned with services at 34 Mbps and higher. Even so, an important consideration is that services at such speeds cannot replace the present service overnight in all European coun- tries; the new services will therefore need to be integrated with the present EuropaNET in a way which makes the boundaries between them invis- ible to end users.

0169-7552/94/$07.00 (~) 1994 Elsevier Sciealce B.V. All fights l~serve¢l SSDI0169-7552(94~ 00027-1

S 132 H.Davies / DANTE's Plans for High Speed Services

2. EuroCAIRN

EuroCAIRN (European Cooperation for Aca- demic and Industrial Research Networking) has been established as Eureka Project 1061 with, as one of its principal objectives, the establishment of high speed services for the research commu- nity. Preliminary work within the project, which included an outline proposal prepared by DAN- TE and refined in discussion with representatives of the community, resulted in the approval of a EuroCAIRN Technical Specification which is reproduced as an Annex. It foresees a 34 Mbps service, extensible to 155 Mbps and higher speeds. For preference, it would be based on ATM technology but the use of native IP would be accepted as an interim measure if necessary in the interest of making a 34 Mbps service avail- able earlier than would otherwise be possible. Coverage should include the Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) as well as Western Europe and links to the US.

3. DANTE Study Report

In December 1993, DANTE was invited by EuroCAIRN to make a proposal for the produc- tion of a study report based on its Technical Specification. The purpose of the report is to underpin strategic decisions, to provide a detailed justification for funding proposals to national governments and other funding bodies, and to form the basis of a service specification against which potential suppliers can make offers.

The study report will define technical options; propose an implementation plan (including a plan for geographic and timetabled roll-out); list the commercial options, including plans for sub- sequent funding and charging; and propose ways in which the introduction of advanced applica- tions can be monitored to measure the effective- ness of the new technology. DANTE will not attempt to Carry out all the necessary technical work in the study by itself but will call on the

expertise available within the research network- ing community, primarily through RARE's Work- ing Groups and Task Forces.

DANTE's proposal was accepted by Euro- CAIRN in January 1994 subject to negotiation of a few details. The award of a contract for the study awaits the receipt of funding contributions to EuroCAIRN from participating states.

4. Practical Questions

The study report will need to address a number of practical questions. Amongst them are the following:

• Where are lines available? In most of West- ern Europe, adequate line capacity is already in place but there may be some constraints on the location of access paths in peripheral re- gions. In the short term, line availability will impose more serious constraints in the CEEC; on a longer time scale, these are likely to be removed following the progressive installation of the Trans-Europe Link from Germany to Turkey via countries which include the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania.

• Who will supply? On a pan-European scale, the possible answers are affected by current regulatory regimes for telecommunications services, the impact of liberalisation and the speed with which it takes effect.

• Can a single PNO provide a pan-European service or will multiple PNOs need to be in- volved? This depends on the progress of de- regulation as well as on the commercial plans of the PNOs.

• What will suppliers deliver? At present, no international high speed services are offered commercially; international line capacity at speeds of 34 Mbps and above is only just starting to become available. PNOs' plans, for example whether they propose to offer "raw" ATM or packaged services which de- pend on the use of ATM as an underlying

Dr Howard Davies worked for most of the 1960s and 1970s at CERN (European Organisation for Nuclear Research) in Geneva. From 1977 until 1993 he was Director of the Computer Unit at the University of Exeter in England. He has been involved in European activities for some time, serving from 1989 to 1991 as Director of the interim COSINE Project Management Unit and from 1992 to 1994 as Vice-President of RARE (R~seaux Associ~s pour la Recherche Europ~enne). Since 1993, he has been General Manager of DANTE (Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe Ltd) based in Cambridge, England.

H~Davies / DANTE's Plans for High Speed Services S 133

transmission technology, will need to be un- derstood. Are the available standards adequate and com- plete? Practical implementation may uncover inadequacies or deficiencies in the standards which have been specified and more work may be necessary to remedy or to extend them.

5. A DANTE Enquiry

Independently of its work in relation to Euro- CAIRN, DANTE sent a letter to all major Euro- pean PTOs in December 1993 inviting responses to a more open-ended specification for a high speed service. Great care has to be taken to prevent overlap or interference with the Euro- CAIRN process but the intention was to investi- gate the possibilities for quickly introducing a more limited high speed service, perhaps between only a small group of countries initially, if the EuroCAIRN process was delayed for any reason.

The enquiry generated only three responses, but two of them were from consortia so that between them they covered a large proposition of the European telecommunications supply industry. None of the responses included hard information of the kind that would allow an implementation specification to be developed immediately, but all three groups expressed an interest in engaging in a dialogue with DANTE.

6. Conclusion

There are therefore three parallel activities that DANTE is engaged in:

• evolution of the existing EuropaNET service, • investigation of the rapid introduction of a 34

Mbps, limited in geographic scope if neces- sary, and

• preparation of the formal procurement of pan- European service.

The cost of high speed services will have an order of magnitude of a few tens of MECU per year. Since there is no prospect of obtaining 100% central funding for these services even if EuroCAIRN is a complete success, it is also necessary that national organisations urgently

engage in the preparation of funding proposals within their own countries .

Annex

TRANS-EUROPEAN RESEARCH BACKBONE

Technical Recommendations of the EuroCAIRN Committee

1. The trans-European networking infrastructure should be upgraded to support access at_34 Mbit/s as an immediate action, with the tar- get of providing an operational service in 1994.

2. By preference, the upgrade would utilise IP provided over ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) technology; if this proves not to be feasible in the time-scale, then native IP would be used as an intermediate step.

3. The implementation should cooperate with but not rely on the PNO 34 Mbit/s ATM pilot.

4. The upgrade should meet two objectives: Aggregate traffic demand from existing ap- plications,

- Real time demands from advanced applica- tions.

The real time requirements of some advanced applications can only be met with ATM tech- nology.

5. Collaborations with European PTOs/PNOs should be sought in order to realise the avail- ability of 34 Mbit/s services, and an attempt made to change the relationship between PNOs and the research community from the existing user/provider relationship into a coop- erative relationship. The planning should preferably be based on an integrated solution with commercially available services.

6. Full European coverage, including central and eastern European countries, should be the target and potential constraints should be an- alysed in detail.

7. The next capacity upgrade to 155 Mbit/s should be planned in parallel with the 34 Mbit/s planning.

8. Collaboration with similar activities in other regions should be ensured.